To detect the expression of non-SMC condensin I complex subunit H (NCAPH) in lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), to explore its relationship with clinical features, prognosis, and immune fine infiltration, and to predict its biological function.

NCAPH expression differences in tumor tissues and normal tissues, and the association between NCAPH expression and LUSC clinical characteristics were examined based on the LUSC gene expression data and clinical information in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. By using the Kaplan-Meier technique and COX regression, the association between NCAPH expression and the prognosis of LUSC patients was analyzed. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to identifty the potential signaling pathways involving NCAPH in LUSC. The CIBERSORT deconvolution technique was used to examine the association between NCAPH expression and immune cell infiltration.

NCAPH expression was significantly upregulated in LUSC (P＜0.05), and it was correlated with age, gender, stage, tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis. Survival analysis revealed that patients with high NCAPH expression had a worse prognosis than those with low expression (P＜0.05), and NCAPH expression was an independent risk factor for the prognosis of LUSC (hazard ratio=0.522, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.358-0.762, P＜0.001). GSEA enrichment analysis showed that NCAPH was mainly enriched a series of biologically related processes, such as cell cycle and DNA replication. Immuno-infiltration analysis showed that high expression of NCAPH in LUSC tumor tissues was positively correlated with the levels of naive B cells, M1 macrophages, activated NK cells, and follicular helper T cells (P＜0.05), and negatively correlated with the levels of memory B cells, activated dendritic cells, dormant NK cells, and activated CD4+ memory T cells (P＜0.05).

NCAPH is highly expressed in LUSC, and its high expression is associated with both immune infiltration and the poor prognosis of LUSC patients. NCAPH is anticipated to emerge as a potential diagnostic and prognostic marker for LUSC.